The Washington Post abruptly fired its political editor without giving him a reason for the decision, he said – the latest shake-up at the left-leaning newspaper owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Dan Eggen, a veteran political writer who was named senior political editor just two years ago, said he was “crushed” after being told he would be “removed from his position,” according to an e -email he sent and obtained by Lachlan Cartwright.
“I had difficulty writing this post as it contains an element of begging which is not particularly appealing. But what about it: I was informed on Monday that I will be removed from my role as senior political editor at the end of the year. I will leave it to others to explain why,” the email said.
It was unclear whether Eggen would stay with the publication.
A WaPo spokesperson said it does not comment on personnel decisions when contacted by the New York Post on Thursday.
Eggen did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
At the time of his promotion in 2022, Eggen had worked on The Washington Post’s political desk for more than a decade and had “established himself as one of our sharpest and most agile editors, elevating our daily reporting by generating scoops and accountability reporting on some of journalism’s most competitive sector,” the newspaper said.
His firing as political editor comes as WaPo struggles to cope with Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
The post was disrupted by Bezos’ decision to drop an endorsement for Vice President Kamala Harris just weeks before the election. Several senior employees resigned, including members of the editorial board, and the newspaper lost about 10% of its total subscribers, or more than 250,000 people.
Bezos defended the decision in an Oct. 28 op-ed, saying the endorsements created a “perception of bias” and that the paper was “failing” in its mission to be a trusted news source.
He would like to hire more conservative opinion editors.
The paper – which rose to prominence for its coverage of Watergate – has been accused of liberal bias. The Trump campaign alleged to the FEC that WaPo made illegal in-kind contributions to Harris’ campaign after it was reported the company paid to promote articles critical of Trump on media platforms social.
Earlier this week, WaPo columnist Jen Rubin – who had threatened to leave the paper if Trump won, but has since backtracked – faced backlash for claiming that Republicans ‘want to kill your children’ in an episode of his podcast.
“You have to boil it down to nuts and bolts and you have to be concise. What do I mean by concise? How about this: Republicans want to kill your children. It’s actually true,” she said in the viral clip.
The Washington Post isn’t the only newspaper rethinking its approach to political coverage following Trump’s victory.
LA Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, who also blocked his paper from giving his endorsement, promised the outlet would have a “new editorial board” and promised that “voices from all sides” [will] be heard. »
“If it’s news, it should just be facts, period. And if it’s an opinion, maybe it’s an opinion on the news, and that’s what I now call a voice,” he told Fox News.
